Hi, I’m Shannon-Lee Sassenberg — helping hospitality professionals transform their careers with purpose-driven leadership.

I'm the founder of Inspiro Leadership and Talent, passionate hospitality-enthusiast, pet-mom to the cutest corgi (Ollie) & wife to the world's best husband. I'm a little OCD (Obsessive Coffee Drinker), a Zealous trainer and purpose-driven coach.

I'm deeply passionate about helping hospitality professionals align their careers with their true purpose — because I know from personal experience how transformative that journey can be. A couple of years back I went on a mission to define my personal "why" and I came to this conclusion... my WHY is '"o joyfully serve and inspire others so that impossible dreams are realized — because your dreams deserve a clear path and the confidence to walk it.'"

It’s this driving purpose that led me to build Inspiro — a platform dedicated to empowering hoteliers to grow, lead, and create impact with purpose at the center of it all.

My Journey

Over the past decade, I’ve built a dynamic career in hospitality — starting in operations across various brands in the UAE and South Africa, before going into recruitment for hospitality clients... then COVID happened. From there I pivoted into Learning and Development as an intern, and four years later stepping into leadership.

The first six years were full of hard lessons and uphill battles, but when I finally aligned my career with my purpose, I experienced exponential growth (we 're talking intern to Head of Department in just four years).

I've trained hundreds of hospitality team members for one of the world’s largest hotel companies, delivered multiple leadership programs, personally navigated two major career pivots and guided many one-on-one coaching conversations to help individuals unlock new paths they hadn’t seen before... and I'm just getting started.

Throughout the journey, I always had passion for serving people, that's why I chose hospitality, but it was only after navigating a few key decisions that I discovered what truly fulfilled me... growing people.

Now, I'm on a mission to help others experience career transformation without the years of confusion and strain that I went through. In hospitality, it’s easy to lose yourself in the demands of the job... But I believe that when you align your passion, skills, purpose, and career — you don’t just succeed. You lead. You inspire. You create change.

Whether you’re starting out, pivoting, or rising into leadership — I'm here to help you turn potential into TALENT.

Want to see more of what I'm up to? Let's connect!